Sanctus Real's Lead Singer Announces Departure

After a 20 year history together, GRAMMY nominations, Dove Awards, seven albums and six No. 1 singles, Matt Hammitt, the lead singer of Sanctus Real, has announced he will be leaving the band this December. Both Matt and his fellow band members have taken time to draft personal statements so that their fans can hear from them first hand and in their own words.

The band has announced their “Farewell To A Friend” tour this fall, which will be Hammitt’s final tour with the band. Sparrow Records will release a Greatest Hits project from Sanctus Real this October, featuring the band’s top hits over their 20 year career and a new single, which will release in the fall as well.

Matt Hammitt (read full statement below -- link to this and prayer requests here):

"Last November, I started to feel a spiritual restlessness, sensing that God was leading me into a new season of life. After many conversations with God, family and friends, I came to realize a new calling, one that would require me to make the difficult decision to leave Sanctus Real.

Both the band and I have prepared heartfelt statements about this change, and about where God is leading us. Below is my full statement about this news, as well as Episode 1 of "The Lead Me Lifecast," also about my decision to leave Sanctus Real..."

Dear Friends,
A blog post isn't nearly enough space to recount or describe what I've experienced with my friends in Sanctus Real over the past twenty years. I'm so grateful for what God has allowed a few guys from Toledo, Ohio to experience together. I don't take it lightly, the ability that songs have to impact the hearts and lives of those who hear them. Experiencing this God-given mystery with my friends in the band has been one of the greatest joys of my life. 

I want to thank my band mates, current and former, but especially Mark and Chris for allowing me to share in this incredible season of life with them. And of course, to our families, you are the backbone God has blessed us with. Thank you for holding down the fort. I love and appreciate you. 

And to you, our friends and fans, you've been so good to Sanctus Real and to my family. The support you have given us has been more than we could have wished for, and for that I'm eternally grateful. 

To everyone in the Christian music industry, from our label, agents, managers, friends in radio, promoters, other artists and everyone in-between, I sincerely thank you. I am proud to be in Christian music. 

Like all children, when I was young, people would ask me what I wanted to be when I grew up. I remember answering, "A missionary." It may seem like unconventional missionary work, but I have genuinely viewed my time in Sanctus Real as a mission to build Christ's church through words and music. If you've listened to Sanctus Real or supported us in any way, you've been a vital part of that mission. Thank you from the depths of my heart. 

Over the past few months, I've felt the Lord calling me into a new mission field, into a new season of life. If you want to hear the intricate details about my decision to leave Sanctus Real, I've discussed it at length in the first two episodes of "The Lead Me Lifecast." I open each episode by saying that, "I've been traveling far and wide singing the song 'Lead Me', but now I want to sing it less and live it more." I mean that genuinely, with all of my heart. I've always struggled to reconcile my life on the road away from Sarah and the kids, but after all these years I'm now confident that my calling is to be at home more, consistently making God and family my ultimate priority. My primary gifting as a communicator is simply sharing my life and heart with people, and they're going to get the best of that.

Many of you know that my son, Bowen, is living with severe heart disease. I'm thankful for so many of you, who have walked and prayed with us through this. We're so grateful that he's almost five now, but we live with the realities of his chronic, progressive disease each and every day. Because of our work assisting hurting families through Whole Hearts Foundation, we are constantly reminded that we can't take a day we get with Bowen for granted. This is another reason my family needs me, and I need them.
It's important for me to be clear that I'm not giving up music. Music is in my soul and is my primary expression of life and faith. In addition to making music, I'll be talking a lot about marriage and family in the coming years. There are a lot of people encouraging others to go out and be great in the world (and they should), but I feel a calling to encourage others, especially men, to be great behind their own front doors. As I dedicate myself to being a greater husband, father and spiritual leader, I'll be encouraging others to do the same through my music, "The Lead Me Lifecast" and the "Lead Me Live" events coming in 2016. 

Your support has meant so much to me and my family, and I'm inviting you to join our mission moving forward. At the bottom of this letter, I've put a list of simple, practical list of ways that you can join us. 

With Love and Gratitude,
- Matt

read more 

Notable 2013 Releases

Below are the announced CDs we just can't wait to play:

January 8

.Capital Kings Capital Kings

.VOTA Love Found Me

January 15

.Jason Castro Only A Mountain

January 22

.Love and Death Between Here and Lost

January 29

.Colton Dixon A Messenger

.Fiction Family Fiction Family Reunion

February 5

.Tal & Acacia Black & White

.RED Release The Panic

.Sanctus Real Run

February 12

.Jeremy Camp Reckless

February 26

.NewSong Swallow The Ocean

.Britt Nicole Gold (Mainstream Re-Issue) [Capitol]

.Plumb Need You Now

.Salvador Make Some Noise

March 12

.Steven Curtis Chapman Deep Roots

March 12

.Audio Adrenaline Kings & Queens

.Seventh Day Slumber Love & Worship [BEC]

March 26

.Stryper Second Coming

April 2

.Hawk Nelson Made

April 9

.The Almost Fear Inside Our Bones

.Josh Wilson Carry Me

April 16

.The Afters Life Is Beautiful

May 2013

.Skillet Rise

Unknown 2013

.Amy Grant untitled new studio album

.Guardian Almost Home

.Jars of Clay untitled

.NEEDTOBREATHE untitled

.Newsboys untitled new album

.Relient K untitled

.Seabird untitle

.The Waiting Mysteriet

Best Christian Male Lead Singers of All Time

Below are the 10 best male lead singers of Christian bands.

This list is not just based on vocal prowess, criteria also include song quality, impact on industry, ability to play an instrument and/or craft a song, and of course my personal bias...

10. Rick Florian (WhiteHeart)
9. Matt Hammitt (Sanctus Real)
8. David Crowder (DavidCrowderBand)
7. Jon Foreman (Switchfoot)
6. Bear Rinehart (needtobreathe)
5. Michael Barnes (Red)
4. Jon Micah Sumrall (Kutless)
3. Bart Millard (MercyMe)
2. Mac Powell (Third Day)
1. Marc Martel (of downhere)

Some notable misses (like dc Talk)?  Check here.

Honorable Mentions:
Mark Hall (Casting Crowns)
Jamie Rowe (Guardian)
Dan Haseltine (Jars of Clay)
Derri Daugherty (The Choir)
Edin Adahl

Kevin Young (Disciple)

Josh Reedy (Decemberadio)
Josh Havens (The Afters)

Thoughts?

Sanctus Real Escapes Burning Bus Without Harm

Members of rock band Sanctus Real and their crew and family members escaped harm when their tour bus caught fire on the road early this morning.

Nine adults and four children were aboard the 1999 Prevost, returning from a show in Maryland, when driver Stephanie Heisinger looked in the mirror around 4 a.m. and saw flames coming out of the rear passenger-side engine compartment.

She pulled the bus over and ran to the back shouting for everybody to get off, then grabbed her phone and dialed 911.

Police arrived in about 10 minutes and firefighters began arriving in 15 to 20 minutes, Ms. Heisinger and band member Chris Rohman said.

One firefighter was injured and the westbound lanes of the Pennsylvania Turnpike were closed for four hours while firefighters battled the blaze and smouldering wreckage.

The bus was a total loss, but the band’s musical gear was in a separate trailer and undamaged, Chris said.

“We’re very thankful for God’s protection because it could have been much worse,” Ms. Heisinger said.

Because many people have expressed an interest in supporting the band with this unexpected loss of transportation, clothing, and technology, they have set up a non tax-deductible means to donate.

Winter Jam Tour Again #1 Among All Tours

The Winter Jam Tour Spectacular has shattered its own record to become the #1 tour in the world (first quarter) for the second consecutive year. According to Pollstar's 2012 Worldwide First Quarter Ticket Sales Charts - Top 100 Tours, Winter Jam outpaced attendance for all other tours, including Cirque du Soleil - "Michael Jackson: The Immortal," Pink Floyd's Roger Waters, The Black Keys, Jason Aldean and Brad Paisley, among others.

Founded and hosted by NewSong and this year headlined by Grammy®-nominated Skillet, the 47-city tour ended April 1 and saw 32 sold-out concerts and surpassed last year's record attendance by more than 10,000, playing to a total of nearly 535,000 people.

"Being the headliner on Winter Jam was an incredible opportunity for Skillet," said the band's frontman, John Cooper. "The fans, the music, and the message were absolutely relevant and impacted people's lives each and every night. The worst part of Winter Jam was having to end the tour and go back to 'normal' life!"

In addition to headliners Skillet, this year's tour also featured Sanctus Real, former Newsboys frontman Peter Furler, Kari Jobe, Building 429, Group 1 Crew, illusionist Brock Gill, and speaker Nick Hall. In addition, the OneVerse Pre-Jam Party included performances from Dara Maclean, For King & Country and We As Human.

Following its January 6 launch in Charleston, West Virginia, The Winter Jam 2012 Tour Spectacular played to capacity audiences in some of the country’s top venues, including Atlanta’s Philips Arena; The Wolstein Center in Cleveland; Oklahoma City’s Chesapeake Energy Arena; the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee; and the Greensboro Coliseum in Greensboro, North Carolina, where more than 20,000 were in attendance.

Since its formation by NewSong in 1995, Winter Jam has featured many of the top names in Christian music, including TobyMac, Jeremy Camp, Steven Curtis Chapman, Third Day, Newsboys, Tenth Avenue North and Fireflight, among others. The tour has also been instrumental in helping launch the careers of such acclaimed artists as Francesca Battistelli, Chris August and Sidewalk Prophets.

For further information, visit www.jamtour.com

Sanctus Real Lead Singer's Family Struggles Through Difficult Pregnancy

GRAMMY-nominated Sanctus Real released its fifth studio album, Pieces Of A Real Heart, in March amidst growing critical acclaim. As the first radio single from the album, “Forgiven,” went to the top of the charts becoming one of the most played Christian radio singles this year, the second single, “Lead Me,” was released last week. Already a hit, the song is a personal confession and prayer written by lead vocalist Matt Hammitt, and is proving to be a source of hope as he and his wife, Sarah, walk through a difficult pregnancy.

“My wife and I aren’t shy about sharing that we’ve had some pretty major struggles,” admits Matt after his wife implored him to be a better spiritual leader in the family. “I think the challenge for me in the song, and hopefully for other men as well, is every time I hear it, every time I sing it, I ask myself, ‘what kind of man am I?’ Not yesterday, not tomorrow, what kind of man am I today? Have I invested in my family emotionally, spiritually the way that God has called me to reach out to them and to lead them.”

To lead them with strong hands / To stand up when they can’t /
Don’t want to leave them hungry for love / Chasing things that I could give up /
I’ll show them I’m willing to fight / And give them the best of my life /
So we can call this a home / Lead me, ‘cause I can’t do this alone /
Father, lead me, ‘cause I can’t do this alone

Implementing this shift in daily priorities, Matt is now walking together with Sarah through one the most difficult points yet in their marriage. Parents to Emmy and Claire, the couple is struggling to bring to term their first baby boy, Bowen Matthew Hammitt. Bowen, which means "small victorious one," is 26-weeks-old and has been diagnosed with a serious heart defect called Hypoplastic Left Heart (HLHS).

“On April 12th of this year, Sarah and I walked into our nineteen week ultrasound excited to find out whether we were having a boy or a girl. Since we’ve already been blessed with two beautiful girls, we were excited to find out it was little boy! However, shortly after the ultrasound, our OB [obstetrician] entered the room and said she had some bad news.

“Knowing Bowen is sick has brought me face to face with the sobering reality that none of us are promised tomorrow and has pulled that nagging ache, the one to make every moment count, straight to the surface of my daily life,” confesses Matt on a blog he and Sarah created to give updates on Bowen at http://bowensheart.com/.

Again finding encouragement and strength in the song “Lead Me,” Matt and Sarah share the story of the song on video at sanctusreal.com. Hoping to help other couples struggling in their marriage, Sanctus Real also leads corporate prayers that can be found on the website.

Sanctus Real & Extreme Makeover: Home Edition

Sanctus Real is performing a benefit concert for a fireman and his sick wife who were selected for Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.

Crossovers deux

P.O.D. - e.g., "Youth of a Nation" (#1 Rock), "Alive" (#2 Rock), "Boom" (#13 Rock), "Will You" (#12 Rock), "Goodbye for Now" (#17 Rock), "Rock the Party" (#25 Rock)
Relient K - e.g., "Be My Escape" (#48 Pop 100),"Who I Am Hates Who I've Been" (#22 Top 40), "Must Have Done Something Right" (#45 Top 40), "The Best Thing" (#47 Top 40)
Sanctus Real - e.g., "I'm Not Alright"
Sixpence None the Richer - "Kiss Me" (#2) and "There She Goes"(#7 Top 40) "Breathe Your Name"(#18 Top 40) & "Don't Dream It's Over" (#9 Top 40)
Stacie Orrico - "(There's Gotta Be) More To Life" (Top 20), "Stuck" (Top 5) and hits overseas: "I Promise" (top 30 UK), "I Could Be The One" (top 40 UK)
Stryper - "Honestly" (#32 Top40), "Calling On You", "Free", "Always There for You"
Superchick - "It's On" (movies "Zoom" & "Nancy Drew"),"Anthem", "It's On", "Get Up" ("Ice Princess"), "One Girl Revolution"(Disney's "Holiday in the Sun")
Switchfoot - e.g., "Meant to Live" (#5 Pop), "I Dare You to Move"(#6 Pop), "This Is Your Life" (#30 Rock), & "Stars"(#16 Rock), "Oh! Gravity" (#36 Rock)
TobyMac - lots of commercials, e.g., with "The Slam" and "Boomin"
Wilshire "Special" (#)